#1 Cabernet Franc, North Fork, Long Island, 2015
#2 Cabernet Sauvignon,North Fork, Long Island, 2015
On our first visit to the Red Hook Winery we were given an opportunity to try two kinds of white wine and three kinds of red wine grape varietals. Our team is assigned to blend red wine varietals to compliment the menu item that we chose-Grilled Lamb “Steaks” Haché with Ratatouille. Our initial goal is to create a blend of medium to full body wine, that will be balanced in terms of tannin and acidity. We also want the wine to have some unique characteristics such as a hint of dark berries and spicy peppery notes on the nose. The wines that we were associating our wine blend were cabernet sauvignon , shiraz and merlot.
At the Red Hook Winery our team was presented with three kinds of grape varietals. The first option was Cabernet Franc, which had the peppery aroma and a taste of dark berries- exactly what we were looking for. The second wine turned out to be Cabernet Sauvignon- full-bodied bold red wine, with a hint of vanilla and black pepper with little less but balanced tannin and acidity. And the third red was Merlot (North Fork, Long Island, 2015), full body wine with high tannin and long finish. Our team found the characteristics of this grape overwhelming, and we decided not to use it to avoid overpowering the tastes of our dish. Blending wine is a completely new experience for us and we are looking forward to try it and come up with our own blend.
